


peace of my heart

by lynne_monstr



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 3x12 sneak peak, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, Angst, But hopeful angst, Ficlets, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s03e20 City of Glass, Rescue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2019-08-21 17:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16580726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynne_monstr/pseuds/lynne_monstr
Summary: A collection of Malec ficlets:1. Alec didn't mean to leave his 3-ring binder of wedding plans out where Magnus could find, seeing as he hasn't actually proposed yet2. (Sequel to #1) It's not an answer without a question3. Detective AU4. Post 3x12 sneak peak. Alec calls Magnus' bluff.5. X-Men AU6. Post 3x10. The people Magnus has helped still remember.7. Sequel to #6. Magnus learning to live again.8. Magnus is a magical badass9. Post 3x20. It takes Magnus a long time to come back from Edom.10. Post-canon. Magnus. New city, new title, new name





	1. Magnus finds Alec's wedding plans. They're not engaged.

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled with what to do with some of the smaller ficlets I've written for tumblr, and finally just decided to throw them all up here, because I'm trying to be more proactive with my ao3 account. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> The title is of course a riff off Janis Joplin, with a slight tweak because I thought "peace" was very appropriate for malec.  
> .
> 
> Kindaresilient and I were discussing Malec proposals, and how Alec most definitely has a 3-ring binder of wedding plans, complete with color coding and those little tab separators. This is what came out of it.

It’s a late night, and Alec finally gives up waiting for Magnus to come home. Whatever Magnus is working on will probably take all night and Alec can’t afford to lose too much sleep. His life, and the life of his people, depends on his mind and body being sharp and well-rested.

He doesn’t realize he left The Binder on the coffee table behind him.

Sometime around 3am, he’s woken by the sound of the front door opening and closing gently. Sighing in contentment, he rolls over to make more room on Magnus’ side of the bed. Five minutes pass and then ten, but the silence in the bedroom remains unbroken. Worried, Alec drags himself upright and goes to investigate.

He finds Magnus hunched over the coffee table. The lights are on and The Binder is open in his elegant hands.

 _Shit, shit shit,_ blares like a siren in his brain. But before Alec has time to work up to a full panic, Magnus looks up.

Even from his place leaned against the doorway, Alec can see the double track of tears gleaming against his boyfriend’s skin.

“Yes,” Magnus says.

Alec blinks, lost for a moment. Then shakes his head to clear the last of the sleep. “Yes?” he asks, more than a little confused.

Later, he’ll kick himself, but in all fairness it’s the middle of the night. He can cut himself a little slack for being slow on the uptake.

“That’s my answer,” Magnus says, closing The Binder and getting to his feet.

The Binder. His binder. The wedding plans he hasn’t asked Magnus about yet.

Oh.

_Yes. He said yes._

Outside the massive windows, it’s still pitch black, but Alec can feel the warmth of the sun rising in his chest as he realizes what just happened. _They’re getting married._

He might be a little sleep deprived, but he’s plenty awake to catch Magnus as he launches himself into Alec’s arms, a litany of “Yes, yes, yes,” streaming into Alec’s ear like a promise.


	2. Sequel to #1. It's not an answer without a question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow up to #1. Alec still has one piece of unfinished business to take care of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kindaresilient asked: Later in the day, when they're just waking up..."I know you already said yes but I have all of this planned, reservations etc and have to get the ring would you let me propose /properly/"

It’s after Magnus jumps into his arms and says yes that Alec finally gets it together. After they’re lying together in bed, very naked and very satisfied, even though it’s technically still the middle of the night.

He had an entire plan and while he’s not complaining that it’s completely in tatters at this point, there’s still one thing missing. One piece of the engagement plan he has to see though, regardless of the fact that the engagement has already occurred.

He turns in bed, cupping Magnus’ face so that they’re staring into each other’s eyes and asks, “Will you marry me?”

And Magnus huffs a small breath of laughter because, “I already said yes.”

“Yeah.” Against all odds, Alec’s smile gets even bigger as he remembers. “But will you marry me?”

Magnus beams as he answers, “Yes,” one more time. His heart is shining gold from his eyes, and Alec’s breath hitches as he realizes he gets to have this forever, now.


	3. Detective AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec are rival private detectives. Because who doesn't need more Detective AUs in their life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alecmagnxs on tumblr gave me a prompt from an ask meme of: 13 + 69 + malec (number choice was not deliberately suggestive but made me laugh nonetheless I am a child). 
> 
> The numbers correspond to Flirting Under Fire + Detective AU

Magnus hates getting hired by soon-to-be divorcees. It’s petty and ugly and certainly doesn’t remind him of his past relationships. But the money’s too good to pass up and his cats deserve only the finest things, so here he is, digging up dirt in a trashy hotel after palming the key-card he stole from the front desk.

It’s all going fine until someone else enters the room. And of course it has to be Alec Lightwood, professional pain in his ass since the day Magnus opened up shop and Mr. Tall Dark and Unfairly Handsome stole what should have been his first client. Magnus has delighted in getting one over on him ever since.

(Though he wouldn’t object to getting on top of him in a different manner altogether.)

He’ll grudgingly admit that Pretty Boy isn’t a half bad detective, but Magnus is the best there is, and there’s nothing left in the room to find by now. He winks on his way out the door.

It’s too bad his dramatic exit is ruined by a full body tackle and a bullet hitting the wall where Magnus’ head was a moment before.

He flirts, of course he does. 

Leaving shame at the door—where it belongs—he looks right up into the gorgeous eyes of his savior and schools his expression into the kind of surprised innocence that’s gotten him out of more than one arrest, and asks, “Why Mr. Lightwood, is that a gun in your pocket?”

In his defense, what else does one do when on the floor, covered head-to-toe by one hundred and ninety pounds of gorgeous man, even if he is a client-stealing traitor. Magnus may be a consummate professional, but he’s not a saint.

What’s surprising is that Alec flirts back. He delivers his response as if they’re simply speaking in an office, rather than pressed against each other on the floor.  


“I don’t carry a gun.”

Magnus might be a little bit in love.

There’s more flirting, more gunshots, and Magnus is delighted when at one point they duck into room 69 to hide. This might turn out to be the best case he’s ever taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to find me on tumblr!  
> lynne-monstr.tumblr.com


	4. Post 3x12 sneak peak. Alec calls Magnus' bluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is putting on a brave face after the loss of his magic, but Alec isn't fooled. He plays along, right up until he doesn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has written a reaction fic to the 3x12 sneak peak and I am no exception.

Alec plays along and eats his breakfast in bed while Magnus smiles and watches over him. It’s as he finishes the last bite, dabbing at the corner of his mouth with the napkin, that he makes his decision.

This can’t go on.

Gently, he pushes away the tray and takes Magnus’ hand, running a thumb over the rises and dips of his knuckles. His skin is soft but the nails are bare, and the absence of color makes Alec feel like he’s being stabbed through the heart all over again.

Unlike Alec’s injury, this wound will never fix itself. How can Magnus sit there like he’s not every bit as devastated as Alec, if not more so, over what happened to him?

It’s a last-ditch effort, but it’s the only thing Alec can think of that might have a chance at getting through to the man he loves so much.

“I know you feel what I feel, Magnus.“

For a split second, the polished composure cracks and Alec gets a glimpse of the loss and devastation bleeding like an open wound behind it. Just as quickly, the smiling mask is back in place, but now Alec can see it for the brittle thing it is.

Magnus’ eyes glint with unshed despair as he shakes his head, a soft, “Please, not yet,” falling from his lips.

 _Not yet_ isn’t the same as never. As much as it hurts to hear, the words are a beacon and a promise. Neither of them are okay but one day they might be.

For Alec, for now, it’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to find me on tumblr!  
> lynne-monstr.tumblr.com


	5. X-Men AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is shot down from the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got an ask for a 3-sentence fic, and the theme was X-Men AU. I know sadly little about X-Men but this was a lot of fun to think up. (as you can see, I'm not very good at keeping to three sentences)

Magnus crashed hard onto the pavement, his injured wing tucked tight against his body.

Steeling himself for capture and interrogation by the humans who shot him down, he blinked away the darkness. And blinked again, just to be sure he wasn’t imagining the absolutely stunning man looking down at him.

He fought the urge to tidy his own hair, no doubt tragically mused in his tumble.

“Congressman Lightwood,” he muttered, as the son of the most notorious anti-mutant politician in the city heaved Magnus’ arm over his shoulder, gentle enough not to jar the wing. “Why are you helping me?”

He wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard a soft, “I keep telling you we’re on the same side,” before Magnus—in a fit of potentially poor judgement—gave his trust to Alexander Lightwood and let himself slip into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of these days I might write the short "morning after" coda to this. We'll see...
> 
> Come find me on tumblr!  
> lynne-monstr.tumblr.com


	6. Post 3x10 The people magnus helped haven't forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post 3x10. Word spreads fast. Magnus has more allies than he thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want all the good things for Magnus. He deserves it.

Word spreads quickly. It spreads in whispers and in midnight fire messages, and in hushed gossip over drinks _. Did you hear? Magnus Bane. I can’t believe…._

They all start coming.

One by one, and then in droves.

From around the world they beat their path, descending on New York City until the magic in the air is so thick even the mundanes begin to notice something is amiss.

Every warlock who had ever received aid, unasked for and unexpected when there was no other way out. Adults who had once been frightened children in need of a teacher and a mentor. People who had been given shelter and protection when they had nothing to offer in return but their gratitude.

Unerringly, they all seek the same place. A nondescript building in the heart of Brooklyn. All of them driven by the same cause. to offer their help and their support, their power and their protection. To offer anything that might be accepted, even if it’s only a kind word.

Because once upon a time, a caring man with gentle eyes had done the same for them.

And Magnus knows in his head that his path has crossed the paths of so many others. Over the years, he’s heard their stories and done what he could to help. How could he not?

But he never thought they remembered.

He never thought there were so **many**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kind of grew into an ad-hoc collab on tumblr. [The full thread is here.](http://lynne-monstr.tumblr.com/post/180701723629/word-spreads-quickly-it-spreads-in-whispers-and)


	7. Sequel to #6. Learning to live again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kindaresilient on tumblr sent an ask about mundanes showing up at Magnus' door (in addition to Downworlders) and giving him mundane weapons as a thank you gift and to protect himself with.
> 
> I ran with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that this isn't a direct sequel to the longer collab fic linked in the previous chapter, just a follow up to the first part that I initially wrote.

He tries to send them on their way, really he does. None of these people owe him anything, regardless of how much they insist otherwise. Magnus only did for them what any decent person would have done.

They nod their head in respect and leave.

Life goes on, and he makes the most of what he has. With each step, he feels further and further from who he used to be. The distance is both a welcome relief and the most terrifying thing he's ever experienced. He doesn’t stop though. _Can’t_ stop. Like one of those sharks doomed to pace the ocean or perish from suffocation, he knows that if he falters he won’t ever get back up again. And he’s come too far to never get back up.

There are other, more dangerous, complications to navigate in this new life.

Much like the deruned Shadowhunters he’s heard of, he’s constantly on his guard now that he’s mortal and less defended. Never defenseless though, and he storms out of his home more times than he can count over that argument with Alec.

A compromise is reached, and he gives in and begins to accept the many gifts borne by the people who have shown up at his door in recent weeks. Everything from protective amulets (none more cherished than his precious omamori) to offensive potions to, of all things, mundane firearms.

He knows how to use most of them, and the ones he doesn’t, he learns. He may no longer be who he once was but he’s still the man who refined an entire branch of tai chi specifically for magic users. He lost his primary weapon, true, but that’s not all there is to him.

It’s a lesson he’s slowly beginning to believe.


	8. Magnus is a magical badass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an anon on tumblr asked: in the mood for bamf!Magnus - imagine Magnus absorbing another warlock's magic because it's out of control and it was gonna blow.

Magnus’ arms are spread wide and his eyes blaze their true gold as he takes in the scene in front of him. Cursing under his breath, he steps forward, making his body a barrier between the frightened warlock and the team of Shadowhunters who have come to investigate the growing magical surge.

If the Nephilim had left well enough alone, Magnus may have been able to talk the poor woman down. She was already terrified at losing control of her spellwork, and the sight of unsheathed seraph blades is only making it worse.

Magnus has just enough time to turn around and hiss at the lot of them to, “Get out!” before the woman gives a high pitched yelp.

A wave of untamed power explodes across the room.

Clenching his eyes shut, Magnus blocks out everything save for the destructive wall of magic rushing towards them. His concentration sharpens to a point, bent to his formidable will. Words of binding and containment pour from his lips.

The heat of it sears his skin, and his jewelry turns scalding against his fingers and neck. He can feel the blisters bubbling up, can hear the crackling of flame consuming his clothes as he struggles to harness the wild power. He can feel the foreign power clinging to him, ripping him apart as it sinks beneath his skin to merge with his own magic.

The incantation is the only thing that keeps him from screaming.

It’s over as soon as it begins.

Magnus blinks away the red spots in his vision. The apartment building is still standing, the warlock woman now laying in a heap on the ground where she previously stood. Magnus can still sense her magic, he notes with relief. She’s alive.

He spares a moment to look down at his hands. His whole, un-burned hands.

Behind him, the Shadowhunters are stirring, eyes wide with shock and more than a little fear. Magnus vaguely wonders if he’s going to end the day in a Clave prison cell. Frightened Shadowhunters like to deal with things that scare them by locking them up, a lesson Magnus has learned the hard way on more than one occasion.

Mustering the last of his strength, he turns towards them and raises an eyebrow. Their gaze flickers between the gold of his eyes and the wisps of blue at his fingers.

“I’ll deal with the warlock,” he tells them, ignoring the way his throat feels scraped raw. “You can go.”

It’s not a request.

He’s not High Warlock anymore, but Lorenzo Rey is nowhere to be found, and Magnus has no intention of calling him. That ass would be more likely to turn the warlock in, as part of some attempt to suck up to the Institute. Magnus has a duty of care and he intends to fulfill it.

That duty includes not letting a frightened young warlock who lost control of her magic be taken into Nephilim custody. He’ll need to stay with her too, until she wakes up. Only then can they begin the process of understanding what went wrong with her spell and how to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.

Alexander can take it up with him if he has a problem, but Magnus doesn’t think he will.

Whether the Shadowhunters in front of him know that, or if they just don’t want to fight a warlock who can singlehandedly stop the magical equivalent of a runaway train, Magnus doesn’t know. And frankly, doesn’t care.

They leave, and he doesn’t miss the wide berth they give him.

He sighs and rolls his aching shoulders. The crisis is averted but his night is just beginning.

(Later, when he finally makes it home, he finds Alec waiting for him with a glass of wine. His entire body is stiff as he settles onto the couch. Finally, with the glass in his hand and his boyfriend’s wonderfully strong hands kneading at his feet, Magnus lets himself relax.)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come find me on tumblr!  
> lynne-monstr.tumblr.com


	9. Post 3x20. It takes Magnus a long time to come back.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec never goes to Edom and it takes Magnus a long time to come back. Neither of them ever move on.

Magnus isn’t surprised when he can’t leave Edom.

His knowledge of magic is far from complete but he knew from the moment he sent himself away that this was a one-way trip. And so he resigns himself to his fate and fills his father's shoes with a ruthlessness that would make him sick if he wasn't so focused on survival. In his darkest days, he wishes he never saved Alicante, but deep down he knows it’s a lie. If given a second chance, he would make the exact same decision without hesitation.

He rules Edom for half a century, spending every moment of spare time on research. On getting back to Alec.

The decades pass and his memories fade. Alec’s laugh grows more and more distant until he remembers the memory of it more than the sound itself. Until he can barely distinguish the recollection of Alec’s hands on him from all the times he’s touched himself while wishing it was Alec. He clings to the memories even as they slip like smoke through his fingers, until they feel more like a fantasy than a life he used to live. There are days he wakes up and wonders if the whole thing was nothing but a dream.

The ring on his finger, solid and heavy and his, brings him back each time and reminds him what he’s fighting for. He made Alec a promise and he intends to keep it.

His heart sings with joy the day he finally returns home. Moreso when he discovers his keys to the institute still work. Beneath it is a desperate fear. Will Alec remember him? Did he move on while Magnus was gone? Magnus would hardly blame him if he did. The only thing worse than their separation is the thought of Alec living a life alone, waiting for a reunion that will never come.

Magnus recognizes him immediately, despite the ravishes of time on his body. Alec’s hair is tufts of fine white, and his laugh lines have settled into deep grooves that score his face. So familiar yet so different.

He’s as beautiful as the day Magnus left him behind.

Alec’s face slackens in shock when he catches sight of Magnus, still covered in red dust and exhausted from his impossible task. Magnus forgets to breathe, forgets to move, forgets everything except the man in front of him. Alec has no such compunctions, and sprints across the room until they’re pressed together once again.

The arms that encircle Magnus aren’t the strong embrace he remembers but he doesn’t care. He’d forgotten how alec smells, he realizes with a pang, and buries his head into the paper-thin skin of Alec’s neck and breathes deeply.

He hides his face and sobs.

Tears of happiness. Tears of relief. But also tears of devastation. Magnus was so focused on the end goal of returning home that he never thought what would happen when he succeeded. Here in Alec’s arms, he can no longer deny the truth. How much of Alec’s life Magnus has missed, and how little time they have left together.

* * *

In the aftermath of Alicante, Alec puts his best team together.

Despite their efforts, they fail to storm Edom. They fail in their mission to save the one person who deserves it more than anyone. They fail to retrieve Alec’s heart.

Alec is stubborn and refuses to give up, exhausting every option long after everyone around him begins to look at him with pity instead of determination. Until he screams and he rages and he cries, and until all that’s left is to wait and hope that against all odds, Magnus will save himself. Except he never does, and the flicker of hope in Alec’s chest slowly stutters and withers, disappointment making way to full-on grieving even as he refuses to move on.

Years later, at the insistence of his friends and family, Alec allows himself to be set up on a blind date. He enters the bar and walks right back out again, eyes stinging and throat too tight to breathe. He doesn’t try again for a long time.

(He sees glimpses of Magnus sometimes. Vision of him flicker at the corners of his eyes for decades, but it’s never anything more than a passing likeness of a stranger, combined with his own desperate longing. The agony of those moments used to tear his heart to shreds but it’s since faded to a dull ache when it still occasionally occurs, barely distinguishable from the constant low-grade ache he lives with everyday.)

Alec never gives up hope, but he stops believing in happy endings.

It’s a perfectly normal day when he looks across the room and the mirage is real. Alec blinks, but the tall, broad figure doesn’t disappear, doesn’t resolve itself into someone with a vague resemblance to his long-lost fiance. A sob tears its way out of Alec’s throat as his aching knees and his stiff back propel him forward at a fraction of his youthful gait.

In that moment he doesn't care about the pain in his joints or that he's no longer strong enough to lift the man in front of him up off of his feet and into his arms. He only cares that, for as long or as short as it may be, his life has been given back to him.

Magnus is in his institute.


	10. Post-canon. Magnus. New city, new title, new name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another tumblr ficlet. The epilogue in the finale makes Magnus' new life look natural, but the transition doesn't happen overnight.

It takes half a year before the new title rolls naturally off his tongue.

“High Warlock of Alicante,” Magnus mutters to himself for what feels like the the hundredth time. His feet take him back and forth across the room, the rug beneath his toes soft and decadent as he paces. “Alicante, Alicante, Alicante.” Again and again, his lips fight the urge to say Brooklyn, and it’s no surprise. He’s been introducing himself that way for nearly a century. Habit is hard to break, even for a creature such as himself who abhors stagnation.

Neither is his home immune to the changes, its space familiar yet achingly strange all at once. He forgets sometimes, and then he’ll catch a glimpse of the world outside his walls, the view punching the air from his chest. The city he used to call home is gone, replaced by sweeping spires and a grand valley. So much upheaval in so short a time.

(He wonders sometimes if he made the right decision in letting himself get swept away with it.)

_High Warlock of Alicante._

The words sound like they’re describing someone else’s life, someone else's career. It takes some getting used to. Magnus is hardly floundering but he’s far from settled.

He’d just been getting used to life without a title at all and now the axis of his world has shifted once more beneath his unsteady feet. He has thrust himself into a different life, a different introduction on his lips and a different city to call his own. Even his name hasn't gone untouched.

He is Magnus Bane no longer.

_Magnus Lightwood-Bane._

He traces a finger across the line of his wedding band, a smile coming to his lips. He gave Alec a matching ring here in this very city. Brooklyn may still linger on his tongue but Lightwood-Bane has settled in the crevices of his heart like it’s always lived there.

_Magnus Lightwood-Bane, High Warlock of Alicante._

The peculiar mood he’s found himself in is lightening, evaporating into clear air like a hazy mist touched by the first rays of dawn.

Change is the fuel that propels him through history unscathed, the discomfort of adjustment burning away the parts of him that would turn to stone. It isn’t always a pleasant path to walk but this time he is not walking it alone.

He is Magnus Lightwood-Bane. He is the High Warlock of Alicante.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come find me on tumblr!  
> lynne-monstr.tumblr.com


End file.
